Not all experiments work, and Time Code is a perfect example.
Recent films by director/writer Mike Figgis seem to go all over the place.
The Loss of Sexual Innocence
was a meandering, stream of consciousness semi-autobiographical movie,
while Miss Julie was a period piece. Time Code claims to
be the first movie shot simultaneously on four digital cameras, all in
one take. Essentially, this forces the actors to act without pause for
the duration of the movie (some people call this theater). Events also
move in real time, which means that approximately an hour and a half pass
in the movie. This was done in a similar movie a couple of years ago that
no one remembers; Nick of Time starring Johnny Depp.

Although Figgis gets the writing credit, the credits at the end of the
movie say that aside from a basic structure, much of the story was improvisation.
And it shows. There are four main characters. Saffron Burrows (Miss
Julie, Deep Blue Sea) is a wife worried
her husband is cheating on her. Stellan Skarsgaard (Ronin, Amistad)
is her husband, an executive at Red Mullet productions (also the name
of Figgis' actual production company). Skarsgaard is having an affair
with Salma Hayek (Wild Wild West,
Dogma), an aspiring actress. Jeanne Tripplehorn
(Mickey Blue Eyes, Very Bad Things) is Hayek's lover, who suspects
something is wrong. Holly Hunter, Kyle MacLachlan, Julian Sands, Alessandro
Nivola, and a number of other good actors are also in the film, but they
only play marginal roles.

The intriguing thing about Time Code is that four stories play
on the screen, which he divided into quarters. Everything happens at the
same time, which, in theory sounds distracting, but following the action
is relatively easy. Figgis raises the volume on the 'important' quadrant
and lowers it on the other three. The stories frequently intersect, with
the same character showing on more than one screen. This is probably the
main reason to see the film, just to see how Figgis pulls it off. However,
the story that emerges is thin and boring. Sands (The
Loss of Sexual Innocence, One Night Stand) plays the most amusing
role in the film; a masseuse. Red Mullet (in the film) also seems to focus
on releasing bad movies, which, unexpectedly carries over into real life.
Also, just to remind moviegoers that things are happening at the same
time, Figgis frequently interjects earthquakes into the movie. So the
camera shakes and everyone looks worried. The effect looks worse than
Star Trek, but at least the cameras synchronize well. As a movie,
Time Code probably fails, but as a technical exercise, it is far
more interesting. The net effect is marginal.